


Day One Hundred Sixteen || Jewelry

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [116]
Category: Naruto, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 08:24:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18616849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: Her mother had always worn the most beautiful pieces...but they were lost alongside their wearer. After all this time...maybe she can bring herself to don it. If only because he made it just for her.





	Day One Hundred Sixteen || Jewelry

She remembers her mother’s jewelry.

Memories of Hanako are faded with time and youth. The Hyūga mother had been the embodiment of their element: fluid, graceful, beautiful and deep. Before their fleeing, their house by the sea - in that bustling port city - had been grand and picturesque. Hinata can still recall feeling the ocean spray from their balcony, the endless expanse of the sapphire depths reaching to the far horizon.

It was those shades of blue that had always adorned her mother’s skin. Necklaces, bangles, earrings and hairpieces. Silver polished to a shine, and blue jewels of the utmost purity bought with Hiashi’s coffers. Hinata used to play with them, wearing them with her mother’s help.

“See, Hinata? You wear pieces of the sea...you take it with you. But all these fineries, all these... _ things _ . They will never be more important than the ocean within your heart. Your element  _ lives _ in you. Auquiana will come at your call, should you need them. They say the Elementals left us...betrayed us. But this is not true. It was we who betrayed them. Only those most faithful - those most bonded with their ven - will hear their echoing voices. So keep that cove in your heart. Never let it waver. You are a daughter of the chosen disciples of water. It will always heed your will.”

She’d been so young, then...when it all fell apart. When the reach of the Rift extended to their peaceful port. Her sister was barely of this world when they fled for their lives in the night. Everything they’d ever known - their home, their things, their city - was lost to them.

Even their mother.

The enemy had been too swift. Too strong. Hanako had insisted she take the fall: remain to buy them time. Vague impressions remain of her mother’s valor: of the tide that seemed to rise from the earth, a mighty tsunami that swallowed them all.

And that strange sapphire glow to her mother’s eyes.

Hiashi refused to speak of his wife ever again. With what little he’d scavenged before their flight, he’d found a small homestead far inland. Away from the sea, the tides, the cobalt waves that had reflected in her mother’s trinkets.

Over time, Hiashi rebuilt his fortune. Never to the lengths they’d had, but they wanted for nothing. But Hinata had refused to indulge in jewelry. Not for want of modesty, though she had grown to be quite humble. But simply because such things were of her mother...and her mother was no more.

And then...she’d happened upon a traveler. A young man seeking aid for an ill brother. She herself had been offering prayers on her mother’s birthday when they met. And something...struck her about him. A disciple of fire, with eyes of rubies. The pleading in those eyes, looking upon the statue of Luxeria, had stirred something in her. His genuine humility in the face of his one plea. The wish for nothing more than the life of one most dear to him.

She understood...and concocted a plan. Hinata was one of few privy to one of the last remaining mages of light: a woman slightly her elder, also in hiding. A meeting had been arranged, and a bargain struck.

“I will take you to the lux mage. But you must let me come with you...and train me to use my ven.”

Magic and its subjects had been banned in her household. Hiashi claimed it was for their safety: el’ven people were no longer welcome among their el’kor cousins. To practice it was to invite danger. But Hanako’s words echoed in Hinata’s mind. She knew why he really shied from the art.

Sasuke had agreed.

Abandoning her home, Hinata then began a long and perilous journey with her three companions: the lux mage, and the two igni brothers. They sought the old, abandoned capital of the light lands: sealed since the Rift against invaders, untouched by hands or time. It hadn’t been easy, and Sasuke had taught her when he had the chance. But his impatience was evident, and more than once they almost disbanded.

But once they arrived...they all realized they had a far longer, more difficult journey before them.

To reinvoke the council of the elements - to unite the twelve as they’d been before the coup - sounded a fool’s errand. Even Hinata, after all her talk of faith to Sasuke, had had her doubts.

And yet...here they are, on the eve of the first summit. And Hinata herself is to serve as water’s dignitary. Much time has passed since then...and much growth. 

Staring at her reflection in her quarters in Luxeria’s palace, she eyes herself critically. A gown of opal and sapphire clings to her torso before flaring beneath the waist, sleeves long and draping. Fine stitchwork shimmers with iridescent thread to mimic waves and ripples. When she moves, she is water itself.

She feels...unfit to wear it. Such a dress would have fit in her mother’s wardrobe, without a doubt. But on her...it feels too grand. Too...much.

A knock sounds against her door, and she gives it a glance. “...come in.”

After a slight pause, Sasuke turns the handle and enters. Second in command to his brother, he is nonetheless dressed in just as fine of garb as herself, his own mimicking coal, embers, and flames. But unchanged is his hair: as unruly and defying gravity as ever. He pauses at the sight of her.

A faint blush alights her cheeks.

“...you look amazing.”

“Thank you...as do you. Whoever made these clothes is unnaturally skilled.”

“That I can agree with. Doesn’t make me feel any less ridiculous.”

That earns a laugh and a rare smile, her chin ducking. “Yes...it all seems rather over-the-top. But...then again, this is a-all quite the happening.”

He doesn’t reply - doesn’t need to. They’ve already discussed it at length more than once. The Rift began with the coup centuries ago that led to the fracturing of their peoples...here in this very castle, for this very event. Since that day, there has never again been such a meeting of the twelve elements.

Some doubted all twelve even remained.

Instead, Sasuke steps further in, door closing at his urging. “I...came to bring you something.”

Her head tilts curiously, now noticing the hand kept behind his back. “Oh…?”

“I’ll warn you, it’s not the most... _ polished _ of its kind. I’m still learning. But...well, it’s a branch of fire, so…”

All the more intrigued as he speaks, Hinata watches his face until he reveals his hand. Clasped in his grip is a diadem. Silver is shaped in rolling waves, coming to meet in the middle around a peerless teardrop sapphire. 

She stares.

“You...you  _ made _ …?”

Sasuke shifts, clearly unsettled at her silence and scrutiny. “Yeah. Metal is...is the child of fire and earth. I’ve wanted to branch into it, since lightning already came so easily to me. This...wasn’t as quick. It’s flawed but -”

Cutting him off with a look, Hinata steps up and carefully plucks the piece from his palm. True, she can see inconsistencies the metal. It’s not as symmetrical as he clearly meant for it to be.

But to her, it’s perfect.

Carefully, she lifts the piece and tucks it into her hair atop her head. It’s so light…! “...how do I look…?”

He looks her over. “...I guess it...looks all right. But only because  _ you’re _ wearing it.”

Hinata returns to her mirror, admiring. “...it’s beautiful.”

“I’ve never seen you wear any jewelry, so…”

“...true. And this might be a bit  _ fancy _ for the day to day. But I will treasure it always.” Returning to him, Hinata lays a gentle hand against his chest, smiling warmly at him. “...thank you.”

“...you’re welcome.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tired OTL Hence this feeling a little...lacking. I've been busier than usual later (and for Spring that's saying something), so I'm a lil burnt out by the time I get these as of late.
> 
> Anywho, a bit more of my original fantasy verse! Skipping...way ahead of anything else I've done in it yet lol - but hey, I never said stuff in this challenge would be in order in any way xD
> 
> By this point these two ARE together...even if that perks some brows, given their opposing elements. But hey, love is love, even when it's fire and water.
> 
> But uh...yeah. That's all I've got tonight. Another long day planned tomorrow, so...we'll see how things go :'D Either way, thanks for reading~


End file.
